#zettel #gaming sourced from: [[Gen 3 Kanto Games lacking the Physical-Special Split gives them an identity]] # The best way to play any retro Pokémon game is to emulate it So you want to play a Pokemon game, huh? And that game isn't one you can play on your nintendo switch, you say? Well then pardner, emulating retro (Gens 1-5) Pokémon is the way to go. The games are hella expensive to buy second hand, older games aren't being sold as new and haven't for a while. You think Uncle Nindgrundo and James Freak are still publishing copies of Pokemon Shit Brown and Pokemon Piss Yellow? No, of course not! And good luck going to your local game store that buys counterfeit used copies of Gameboy Advance Pokemon games because "eh, if they work and you can't tell the difference, then who cares?". I exaggerate and aggrandize these hypotheticals to capture the worst case scenario when it comes to older Pokemon games. It's only going to get harder and harder to play Pokemon Emerald on original hardware and then transfer your favorite brother in arms and ride or die for life (your Level 100 Swampert that knows Surf, Waterfall, Dive and Earthquake) up all the way to the most recent video game. ## Transferring Pokemon is a pain in the neck on official hardware These days, transferring Pokémon from the Gameboy Advance to the Nintendo Switch is extremely bullshit. You need at least two Nintendo DS systems, one being one original Nintendo DS and one IDEALLY being a Nintendo 3DS, because if you haven't been using a 3DS you'll need one, specifically one with the Pokemon Transfer and Pokemon Bank applications. Only then can you get any Pokemon from Gen 3 to at least Generation 8. So you can spend hundreds of dollars to get a Pokémon from [[Pokemon Fire Red]] to [[Pokemon Scarlet]], orrrrrr you can just emulate the retro games, and then use the .sav data to send all the Pokemon data to PKHex, which can then edit the save data of a more modern game's save backup. It's complicated, yes, but MUCH more affordable and well worth it if you take the hour or so to jailbreak your 3DS. Literally like just export the .sav file of your most recent emulated save, load it into PKHex. Save each .sav file in a specific folder on your hard drive and you don't need to worry about losing your Pokemon in the event that Pokemon Home one day shuts down. You will own your Pokemon data. You know what's also really cool? Using a save editor to trade your Pokemon across games! I thought it was so cool to bring Pokemon from an Emerald playthrough over to a LeafGreen playthrough without having to find a second gameboy advance and a link cable. Ever used a Metagross to absolutely body the Kanto Elite Four? Give it a whirl sometime. How about trying to use your childhood Charizard at the Battle Palace and see just what the heck happens! ## Romhacks ARE DOPE! And we can't forget about Romhacks! Romhacks rule! There are rom hacks that alter the game mechanics, change the encounter tables, and even offer you the chance to live out your playground dreams of playing as the bad guys. Maybe that jackass kid who said he played as Team Rocket was actually a time traveler. You want to play Pokemon but in a post-apocalytptic future full of zombies? Play Pokemon Snakewood (or don't). Want to play Pokemon from an alternate universe? That's Pokemon Fool's Gold! Ever wondered what it would be like to play Pokemon FireRed, but you're so brainrotted from playing around 1450 ELO on the Gen 9 OU ladder that you refuse to play anything other than competitive Pokemon even when you're five minutes into a video game? Radical Red and Inclement Emerald. Yes, there are even Kaizo Pokemon Romhacks that require far more than a damage calculator to even have a dream of a chance in each encounter. It's so easy to patch roms and play these novel fan made alterations that remix the experience of "Pokemon". Romhacks are cool opportunities that few entertainment mediums can offer quitre like video games. I think the closest thing we have to an analogue are samplings an remixes in modern music. Musical artists of all levels are often reimagine the way that sound can mutually intermingle with of existing songs to create an entirely new experience. In a romhack, you're working with the same baseline assets and progamming present in the original game, but you're able to adapt it to your creative vision which can then create a new and meaningful gameplay experience. Words are hard, rom hacks are cool, give them a try, and hey the only way to do that is by EMULATING!!!! ## And look, you want to break the game? Sure, why not. Look, I'm not your dad. You wanna cheat at the game? Be my guest. You wanna hack in 999 Rare Candies with your action replay codes and walk through walls? Sure! You want to save state when you're halfway through a difficult boss fight with your rival before Nugget Bridge or beneath the Cycling Road or whatever? Hey pal, don't let me stop you. You're allowed to play the game on your own terms when you emulate Pokemon. You're allowed to play with tools beyond what the developers may have intended, which still leads to a unique and meaningful experience. One of my favorite experiences from Pokemon Platinum was when I added a little cheat code to catch the Pokemon of opposing trainers, and then went to the Battlegrounds to catch all the Pokemon from the Gym Leader Rematches. I think I still have some of those guys on Pokemon Home... ## Counterpoints The league of persuasive essay writers have advised me that in order to make my essay and opinion piece appear fair and balanced, I must also include, or at least acknowledge, some negatives of emulating Pokemon games. Uh, I don't know? It's hard to go back to playing the base, handheld version of the games if you've grown accustomed to continuously holding the fast-forward button whenever you enter a battle? You might accidentally have to deal with pop-in advertisements on the free DS emulator you have on your phone because you didn't want to get a paid version (which, by the way, don't pay for an emulator on the app store, you're better than that.). Uhhhhh your annoying peers might see you emulating on your phone and then ask you who your favorite Pokemon were and then you have to listen to them talk about how they only played Pokemon Ruby or some shit because they thought Groudon looked "badass" and then they decided that they'd rather play Digimon, which is when you realize that this dude's even worse than you thought he was for a LOT of reasons. That could also happen if you decide to emulate Pokemon. ## Related Thoughts - This is kind of a derivation of [[Modern Retro Gaming Mandates Convenience Features]]. If you want to have the chance to transfer your Pokemon to modern consoles, you either have to do something very impractical, or you can use a save editor too (a convenience feature) - you should probably play Pokemon romhacks with an emulator with a speed-up function. - [[There's Nothing Wrong with FastForward Functions for Pokemon Romhacks]]